Baldwin was about town yesterday boasting that Von der Ahe's talk about having him arrested for conspiracy was all buncombe. He was around the Laclede Hotel all the afternoon playing billiards and enjoying himself nicely, when Chief of Detectives Desmond tapped him on the shoulder and told him he was wanted at the Four Courts. Baldwin imme- diately commenced swearing and threatenednot to accompany the detective, but when the detective told him the more quietly he went the better it would be for himself, he sobered down and walked out of the hotel to the Four Courts. Arriving there a warrant, charging conspiracy, was shown to him and he was pushed into the city jail.

Judge Claibourne, of the Court of Criminal Correction, was not around at the time, and as he was the only person authorized to receive bond Baldwin could not have procured his release even had he been able to do so. As a result he was locked in jail, and the probability is that he will stay there for at least twenty-four hours. The warrant charges that Baldwin, with J. P. O'Neil, the president, and Edward Hanlon, the manager of the Pittsburg Base Ball Club, conspired together for the purpose of breaking up the St. Louis and Columbus Base Ball Clubs.

It further states that Baldwin came to St. Louis armed with money furnished him by O'Neill and Hanlon, and that he put that money to use in securing players to break their contracts with the St. Louis and Columbus clubs. It is charged that he not only secured an illegal contract with O'Connor, but that he sought by various means to get Charles King to break his contract with theSt. Louis Club.

The laws relating to conspiracy in this State are severe and far-reaching, and the punishment following the conviction is severe. The burglar never gets less than two and never more than ten years, and, strange to say, this is the punishment which follows any case of conspiracy where a convictionis secured.

In connection with the arrest of Baldwin, Mr. Joe Pritchard, The Sporting Life's correspondent in this city, tells an interesting story. He says that he signed O'Connor to play with the Columbus Club, and that subsequently O'Oonnor came to him and told him that he (O'Connor) would give him $500to destroy the Columbus contract, so that he could sign with Pittsburg and make S500 by so doing, Pritchard replied warmly that he was not in that kind of business.

​-Sporting Life, March 7, 1891

Just found this account of Baldwin's arrest from Sporting Life and thought it was much more interesting than the one from the Clipper. So here it is.

Joe Pritchard, mentioned at the end of the article, was the St. Louis correspondent for Sporting Life in the late 1880s and into the 1890s. He also acted as an agent for the Browns and was heavily involved in the sale of Bob Caruthers to Brooklyn after the 1887 season.

President Von der Ahe, of the St. Louis Club, of the American Association, when asked about King, who has recently signed with the Pittsburg Club, of the National League, said: "I see that he has jumped his contract with St. Louis. After signing a contract for $3,000, which both he and the St. Louis Club entered into in good faith, he suddenly discovered that the contract was illegal. His discovery was based upon an offer from Palmer O'Neill of $5,000 to play with Pittsburg. King has been coached to take the step, on the pretext that the contract is not binding. I am personally responsible to King for his salary, and I have decided upon a line of action to protect my club interests against the trickery that has been resorted to in this case. King will not have smooth sailing in the promise made to give him $5,000 for breaking his contract. I see he is trying to make the people in Pittsburg believe that no amount of money would induce him to play in St. Louis. Why, he told a representative of the St. Louis Club that it was merely a question of money with him and if we paid him as much or more than Pittsburg, we could have him. We refused to pay him $5,000, and he went to Pittsburg. I shall do nothing hasty. His contract to play ball in St. Louis is binding, three attorneys told me, and if I enjoin him, I will do so both in Pennsylvania and Ohio."

-New York Clipper, May 9, 1891

The Baldwin Affair isn't really about Mark Baldwin at all. It really isn't about Chris Von der Ahe. It's about the Pittsburgh League club stealing Silver King from the Browns. It's about League clubs stealing players from American Association clubs. It's about the breakdown of the National Agreement with the result being a war between the leagues over player procurement. Baldwin was just an agent in this; he was just a soldier in the war. If it hadn't been him, it would have been someone else.

A dispatch from St. Louis says: "Now that Mark Baldwin, the pitcher of the Pittsburg Club, of the National League, has been discharged by the Court, in this city, it is expected that Charles King, of the St. Louis Club, of the American Association, will jump his contract. King has never reported for duty, and declares he will not play for President Von der Ahe, because the latter released him in 1889, when there were complaints about his poor pitching. King denies that he has signed with any other team, but it is generally believed that he has either signed or agreed to sign with another club with the understanding that his contract was not to be made public until after the case against Baldwin had been disposed of.

​-New York Clipper, April 18, 1891

The unstated accusation here is, of course, that Baldwin had enticed King to jump his contract and sign with Pittsburg. Once Baldwin was arrested, they had to wait to announce the contract or the case may have went against him.

Pitcher Charles King, who is under contract to play with the St. Louis Club, of the American Association, did not report for duty April 1, as required by contract. For this reason many are led to believe that Baldwin, of the Pittsburg Club, of the National League, has succeeded in obtaining King's signature to a League contract. King, who is one of Baldwin's witnesses, has sworn that neither Baldwin nor any agent of his had, either directly or indirectly, approached him for the purpose of getting him to break his St. Louis contract. The presumption is rather strong now that Baldwin did get King to jump. This makes the case against Baldwin much stronger than it was. President Von der Ahe, of the St. Louis Club, says that if King jumps, he will enjoin him from playing in every State in the Union where there is a National League club.

​-New York Clipper, April 11, 1891

Silver King did indeed sign with Pittsburgh and played for them in 1891.

It's kind of interesting that I keep dancing around Baldwin's guilt in all of this. I don't think I've come right out and said that Baldwin was conspiring to tamper with clubs in the AA and trying to steal their players. I think I've been qualifying it because, in all honesty, I don't really know for sure if he was actually guilty of it. I assume he was but I don't have any evidence of it. I guess King signing with Pittsburgh is kind of evidence of Baldwin's guilt but correlation does not imply causation. The Seymours stated that Baldwin was acting as an agent of the League and David Nemec stated that Baldwin had been hired by the League to entice away Association players. Those are folks that I respect and take at their word. I assume that they evidence to support those claims but it is evidence that I haven't seen. Maybe somewhere down the road, I'll find some direct evidence of Baldwin's guilt but there is no guarantee of that.

Like I said, I assume Baldwin is guilty and I think everybody does. But I'm trying to document this the best I can and, as of yet, I see no source material that proves his guilt. And that's kind of interesting.

In explaining his messages to Comiskey, published recently, J.P. O'Neill, president of the Pittsburg Club, of the National League, says J.I. Rogers asked him to try and get Comiskey for the Philadelphia Club. He wired Comiskey to come and see him and bring King with him, as Pittsburg wanted King. The reply was: "Both are under contract." The day after Rogers' interview, in which he said O'Neill was unauthorized to negotiate with Comiskey, the Pittsburg president received a telegram from the Philadelphia magnate, saying that he hadn't authorized him to transact business by wire, but in person.

​-New York Clipper, April 4, 1891

I'm not sure that O'Neill and Rogers really helped themselves with their explanations. I guess their real excuse here, unstated, is that, once they discovered that Comiskey and King were under contract, they ended negotiations. I think that future events will prove that to be untrue.

The case against Pitcher Mark Baldwin, of the Pittsburg Club, of the National League, charged with conspiring with J.P. O'Neill and Ed. Hanlon, of that organization, to get Charles King, of the St. Louis Club, of the American Association, to break his contract with the latter team and join the Pittsburg Club, was set for a hearing before the Court of Criminal Correction, March 12, at St. Louis. the attorneys for the State asked for a continuance, however, as President Chris Von der Ahe and Secretary George Munson, of the St. Louis Club, and other witnesses for the State were unavoidably absent...The case was accordingly laid over until March 18.

​-New York Clipper, March 21, 1891

I think this is an outstanding summary of the charges against Baldwin and sets forth, rather clearly, what set all of this into motion.

The charge of conspiracy against Pitcher Mark Baldwin, of the Pittsburg National League team, comes up for a preliminary hearing in the Court of Criminal Correction to-day. It is doubtful if it will go to trial, however, as Secretary Munson, of the Browns, is in Cincinnati organizing the Association club there, and President Von der Ahe will be busy at the Democratic primaries, he being a candidate for a place on the Council ticket.

Mr. Von der Ahe has in his possession a telegram, which while it does not show that Mark Baldwin approached pitcher King, proves beyond all question that Baldwin's employer, J. Palmer O'Neill, president of the Pittsburg Club, has been after the silver-haired pitcher. It not only proves that, but proves furthermore, that O'Neill wanted Captain Comiskey, of the Browns, to also jump his contract and take the place of Harry Wright as manager of the Philadelphia League team. The message is as follows:

"Pittsburg, Feb. 24. - C. Comiskey, ball player, St. Louis Browns: - I have authority to contract with you to take Harry Wright's place on Philadelphia League team. Big salary. Long contract. Come to Pittsburg and bring pitcher King with you. We will pay all expenses. Answer. Strictly confidential. J. Palmer O'Neill."

Comiskey promptly turned the telegram over to Mr. Von der Ahe, who still has it in his possesion. It will be remembered that about the time the message was sent it was stated in telegrams sent out from Philadelphia that Harry Wright was to sever his connection as manager of the club. Later it was stated that his difference had been fixed up and President Reach had requested him to remain and he had agreed to do so. The fact of the matter is, the club expected to secure Comiskey and wanted to drop Wright. Later, when they could not induce St. Louis' captain to jump his contract, Reach and his associates signed the old veteran Harry to again manage the team.

​-The Sporting Life, March 21, 1891

I think, with this piece from The Sporting Life, some of what motivated Von der Ahe to press charges against Baldwin. Not only was Baldwin coming after Silver King but O'Neill, acting as an agent of the Philadelphia Club, was coming after Comiskey. So it's not just that Silver King might have been induced to jump his contract but that multiple League clubs were, essentially, raiding the Browns. And this was a year after Von der Ahe had lost most of his stars to the Players League. Von der Ahe was just in the process of getting his best players back and here he sees League clubs trying to steal them. There was nothing he could do to stop the defections to the PL but he wasn't going to stand around and watch the National League raid his club.